silver linings
by lovbot15
Summary: "Um," says Lance, waving around his fingers a little bit. "It looks cool. You should try it." "We are not going to waste our time to paint our nails so we can match." deadpans Kolivan. "Well, sure." says Lance. "But don't come crawling back to us when you can't defeat Lotor 'cause you refused to harness the power of friendship." / The one where Lance is nail polish god.


_a/n: my brain: you know, you should be working on those post s2 fics you wanted to write before s3 comes out so they don't get disproved by canon_

 _me: *writes a fifteen page long fic about space fam bonding over nail polish instead*_

 _some good old space family bonding time, because i just adore space fam :3 there's so much fluff in this, guys. so much._

 _i've been working on this for so two months now, and for the last week, i've been rushing to get this finished since there are some parts that will probably get disproved by s3 canon. (which is coming out tomorrow!? i'm gonna implode from excitement!) i've also been working on prompts for vld-wlw-month, which i've collected into a story called 'girls like girls'. i would really be happy if you guys could check it out, since it hasn't really been attracting a lot of attention :(_

 _p.s, all interactions in here are purely platonic bc the vld archive desperately needs more works that are gen and non romantic. i guess the only thing that could be considered non platonic is lance's small crush on allura (which i don't really like, but it's canon, so i had to stick with canon :/)_

 _anyways, im kind-of-sort-of proud of this. hope you manage to read this whole thing and enjoy!_

* * *

 ** _*SILVER LININGS*_**

* * *

Lance finds them at the Terran store, the one that's hidden away in the little nook of the space mall.

Okay, technically, Lance wasn't supposed to slip away to go visit the Terran store. He had strict orders from Allura to go to an Unilu trade post and barter for some more spare parts that they needed. After their recent fight with Lotor, the castle was in dire need of repair, and the parts they needed weren't any they had in commission. He knows he should be following those very strict orders - Lord knows that Allura's stressed enough, with Shiro's disappearance and Lotor on the rise and whatnot - but he couldn't help but feel drawn to the quirky little shop, with it's little trinkets and memories from a home he's not sure he'll be able to return to. Sue him.

And it's when he's browsing through the alien's collection of vinyl records that he spots _them_ \- a cracked black box full of bottles with wands that are chipped and glass that had become discolored but are unmistakably -

"Nail polish!" gasps Lance.

He darts over and pulls out the box, paying no attention to the other items he had shoved aside to get a better look. There are almost twenty of those tiny bottles, some bright and neon and some shimmering and glittery. Lance feels like he's in a daze as he pulls one out and examines the color - a bright warm peach that he could have sworn was his on his younger sister's hand as she waved him goodbye when he had left for the Garrison.

The store owner touches his shoulder, and Lance jumps, almost dropping the box and it's precious contents. He grips it a little tighter to ensure it's safety.

The alien grins up at him. "I see you've taken an interest in these poisons."

Lance stares at him. "These what now?"

The alien nods, clearly expecting him to be impressed. "Poisons from Terra. Won't cause death, but will cause immediate sickness and illness for the following two weeks if ingested. I know; I've tried."

Lance doesn't have the heart to tell him that that is not what the intended use for nail polish is. "How much?" is what he asks instead.

The alien grins, revealing uneven yellow teeth that Lance tried really hard not to curl his lips in disgust at. "Got it out for someone, eh?" Before Lance can respond with a no, he's got a Voltron to do that for him, the alien says "82 gac."

Lance sets the box aside to turn his back on the owner and thumb through the thick stack of gac that Coran had given them all before they had split up in the space mall. They're supposed to be spent on the parts, but damn, Lance is not leaving this site without those nail polishes. He curses when he comes short on just ten of the gac. Turning back to the alien with a sheepish smile, he asks, "Is there any chance that you'll give a discount for a defender of the universe?"

The alien sniffs in disdain. "82 gac or nothing."

Lance sighs, already feeling the tender hope in his chest being crushed. He casts a longing look at the box as he makes to walk out of the store.

"Wait!" The alien calls as he steps one foot out the door. "I'll make a cut! 50 gac! For the box!"

Lance grins as he heads back into the shop. "Deal."

-o-O-o-

Allura pinches the bridge of her nose. "So let me get this straight. You spent 50 of the gac you were supposed to use on the parts we needed for-"

"Nail polish." Lance supplies.

"Did you happen to but any of the parts that were requested?" Allura asks. She says this calmly, but Lance can tell that she's hiding her frustration underneath that perfect princess voice.

"Well, I got some." Lance holds up the bag the Unilu gave him to hold the parts in. Or rather, part.

Allura states at him before sighing, dropping her head into the palm of her hand. Lance feels a sliver of guilt, but he can't deny how giddy he feels over his newly purchased nail polish.

"Coran will just have to make another trip to the mall." Allura sends him a death glare. "Fortunately, we are still in the city. Otherwise, you would have been in for it."

Lance gulps. He has no problem in believing that.

He gestures to the door. "So, can I just skedaddle or...?"

"You may 'skedaddle'." says Allura, eyebrows drawing together at the unfamiliar Earthen term.

"Sweet." says Lance, and with a little wave, he walks out of the control room.

"Dude," whispers Hunk from behind his hiding spot in the crook behind the door. "You're lucky you didn't get burned alive."

"Hunk," says Lance, "the princess would never lay waste on such a handsome face."

Hunk looks amused as he claps him on the shoulder."You keep telling yourself that. Hey, is it true that you got nail polish?"

Lance grins at the excitement in his friend's voice. "Heck yeah I did. A whole box of 'em too."

Hunk makes a little sound. "Oh man, it's been so long since I've painted my nails. Can I try some?"

"Of course you can!" Lance says. "It'll be just like old times too, except Beyonce won't be playing in the background."

Hunk laughs, and for a moment Lance forgets that they're on a spaceship far far away from home. They're just two boys ready to get a makeover.

-o-O-o-

It's nice to be able to sit back and relax and just forget about the fact that they're just a couple of kids hurtling through space in an ancient castle ship, Lance thinks.

Currently, he's perched atop Hunk's bed with his friend's hand in his own, painting the nails with slow, deliberate strokes. Hunk had run his fingers over the neat little rainbow of tarnished bottles, lips pulling into a happy smile as he had chosen a rich purple from the nail polish box, and Lance has to admit it compliments his skin quite well.

"Dude," says Hunk. "You don't have to grip my hands so hard."

Lance sighs and eases up a little. "Sorry." says Lance. "I haven't done this in such a long time."

He goes back to painting the little pinkie finger on Hunk's right hand with an unbreakable focus, tongue sticking out and all.

"What color should I pick next time?" Hunk muses out loud. "Remember that bright orange color your sister had? Oh man, it was the prettiest color. I would kill to have that here right now."

"I'm think there's an orange in the back," says Lance. "It's no Radioactive Banana, but it'll do."

"It was Sun Spots." corrects Hunk. "I wish you still had the glittery nail polish from the Garrison. Remember, Lance, how you would always sneak out to get it from that convenience store down the block?"

Lance laughs a little. "Oh yeah, I got morning detention for a month. And Professor Jenkins gave me so much demerits when she saw my blue nails. But it was so worth it."

He finishes Hunk's right hand and sets it aside, placing his other hand on his thigh. "I always liked the convenience store, though." continues Lance, dipping the wand in the bottle. "Cause they always had those glowy stars on the ceiling that reminded me of-"

"-your mom 'cause she always used to hang them up in your room." finishes Hunk. He's still smiling but it seems to have dulled down a bit.

Lance's thoughts seem to have trailed off and he leans back slightly, nail polish wand clutched between his fingers. "And you liked the manager because she was sweet and nice and reminded you of your gramma."

Hunk laughs and shakes his head a little. "Yeah," he says. "My gramma was the best." His voice wobbles a little at the end and Lance swallows, throat feeling very dry.

The two of them sit in silence for a while, nail polish forgotten, and Lance is blinking back sudden tears.

"Are you crying?" asks Hunk, his own voice teetering on waterworks.

"No." Lance wheezes out. "Are you?"

He shakes his head and points an accusatory finger at Lance. "I'm not, but you are!"

Which is a total lie, because Lance is not crying, there's just probably some space dust that he's allergic to. And Hunk is sitting right in front of him, sniffling and wiping at the corner of his eyes, so there's that.

"So are you." Lance points out, his voice wobbly.

Hunk sniffs. "We're both crying dude."

Lance hiccups and he can't tell if it's from laughter or from tears. "So we are."

Hunk moves a little, as if he were to hug him, but Lance stops him by placing a hand in his chest. "You don't wanna ruin your nails." he croaks.

Instead of listening to his advice, Hunk simply swats away his hand and gathers him into a hug. "I think my friend is more important than nails."

Lance totally does not break down right there and then. He totally manages to keep his cool. Yup.

(The truth is, the stains on both of their shirts, water tracks on Hunk's and smeared purple on the back of Lance's, tell a different story.)

-o-O-o-

Lance is sitting at the kitchen table, debating on whether to paint his nails a cheery yellow or a deep blue for his best girl. The kitchen table has sort of become the Place to paint your nails - back on Earth, the Place was on the rocking swing with the little blue pillows on the porch - and though it could be a little more spruced up, Lance enjoys the small comfort he finds in painting his nails on the marble top.

Keith wanders in just when he plucks out the blue bottle, deciding to save yellow for another day. He spares him a glance before going to the cabinet and searching for a plate probably.

"Hunk put all the plates under the sink because he was cleaning the cabinet." Lance calls out without looking up from unscrewing the bottle.

Keith moves over to the sink and rustles around for a bit before finding the intended object. "Thanks."

Lance clicks his tongue - he really likes that sound - and starts painting his left thumb. He won't admit it out loud, but he rather enjoys the easy companionship he and Keith have fallen into. As much fun as bickering is, he almost feels normal when they work around each other seamlessly - like some sort of space ranger partners.

Keith settles down in the seat across from Lance's and plops some food goo onto his plate. Lance doesn't look up from his nails, but he can feel Keith glancing at him as he shovels the food goo into his mouth.

"What are you doing?" asks Keith after his fourth spoonful.

"Nail polish." says Lance, and he extends his arm in Keith's direction so he can see the first two nails he's already painted. "Ever heard of it?"

Keith frowns a little - it's more of a confused face, really. He takes Lance's hand in his own and inspects it. "So you just put paint on your nails?"

Lance shrugs. "Yeah, pretty much."

He puts Lance's hand back down and learns back. "Oh. Cool."

"It is cool." agrees Lance.

He goes back to painting with careful and deliberate strokes, still aware of Keith's gaze on his hand. When it gets a little too much - because as much as Lance loves attention, sometimes too much can be uncomfortable - he looks up to Keith. "Would you like to try it?"

"Me?" asks Keith. He looks startled and Lance thinks it's adorable.

"Sure, why not?" says Lance with a small smile. "Who knows, maybe Lotor will tremble before the mighty power of painted nails."

That seems to get a smile out of Keith - a small one, but a smile no less - which Lance considers a victory.

"Sure,why not?" says Keith, still grinning, and Lance feels himself start to grin.

"Kay, pick a color." Lance shoves the box of polishes to Keith, who squints at the different labels on each one.

It's been a full minute and Keith is still looking through the box and Lance is about to tell him that picking a color is not that intense, when Keith brings out one bottle.

"Cherry Sunset?" he reads aloud, shrugging and handing the bottle to Lance.

Cherry Sunset is a red, bold and bright. It suits Keith. Lance tells Keith exactly that, to which he just hums in response.

"You didn't finish your nails." Keith points out, and Lance glances at his unpainted fingers.

"It's okay, I'll just do them later." he says. "Now, I know this a lot to ask from you, but you need to hold still."

Keith frowns but complies.

"Why'd you choose red?" asks Lance when he finishes with Keith's index finger, breaking the stillness that had fallen between them.

"I guess it reminded me of Red." says Keith.

Lance looks up from the finger that he's been painting. Keith's face is a mystery, but he swears he detects a bit of sadness. "You miss her, don't you?"

Keith's brows furrow immediately, and Lance can sense him locking up, but to his surprise, he takes one long exhale and nods. "Yeah." says Keith, voice softer than he's ever heard. "Yeah, I do."

Lance takes a good long look at Keith. He had always seen Keith Kogane, the fastest and best fighter pilot at the Garrison, the red and now black paladin, the fearless and bold soldier of the universe.

Now? Now, Lance sees Keith Kogane, the boy with too much responsibility thrust on his shoulders, the boy that missed his magic metal cat.

It feels like he's seeing him for the first time.

He looks back down at Keith's nail and focuses on painting the fifth nail. "I know how you feel." says Lance, hoping it's a small comfort. "I miss Blue."

"Yeah?" responds Keith, lips quirking up in the smallest of smiles.

"Yeah."

They sit in silence for the rest of the time. It's not bad, but they don't get into an argument for once, which Lance considers a plus.

-o-O-o-

Pidge walks into his room one day, spooking Lance from his place under the covers.

"Pidge!" he calls out indignantly. "What are you doing in my room?"

Instead of answering his question, she just drops onto his bed and presses a tablet in his face.

"Is this what I think it is?" demands Pidge.

Lance squints a little. "Is that Keith's hand? Man, do you have some weird hand fetish that I don't know about?"

"Lance." she snaps. "He has nail polish?"

Her tone is full of disbelief - not the rude type, more like the 'How the hell did you find nail polish in space?' type.

Lance squints a little bit more, before realizing, duh, he was the one that had painted Keith's nails. "So he does."

Pidge turns to him, eyes shining behind thick rimmed glasses. "Nobody told me that there was nail polish in space!"

"Oh yeah, I found a bunch at the space mall!" says Lance, grinning a little at Pidge's little gasp. "Though I have to admit, I never thought nail polish would be your thing."

"Nail polish is not my thing." admits Pidge. "However, it is an activity that I do enjoy a lot. Or rather, I did enjoy."

Lance turns towards her. "Why do you even have a picture of Keith's hand anyways?"

She smirks. "Security cams. Gotta make sure the guy doesn't decapitate himself by pushing too hard at the training bots."

Lance takes this into consideration and shrugs. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She nudges his shoulder. "Sooo?"

"So?"

"Can I try them on?" asks Pidge.

"Hmm." Lance props his chin up on his knuckles, raising an eyebrow at her. "I don't know if you're special enough to use them."

He's teasing, of course, but Pidge crosses her arms and raises her own eyebrow for a dry response.

"You let Keith, your self proclaimed rival, use it." she says. "I think I exceed special by this point."

Touche. Lance laughs at her and walks to where the drawers are, pulling open the first one and grabbing his box of nail polish. "Alright, let's do this."

Pidge holds up a finger. "Wait, I wanna do your nails!"

Lance just hums in response. "Okay. C'mon, we're doing this at the kitchen table."

"Why the kitchen table?"

"It's the Place!" says Lance. They walk out of his room and to the dining room, Pidge making a weird face at him. "What, you've never heard a Place? You know, where you paint your nails?"

"You know," Pidge says, pulling out a chair when they reach the dining table. "We're talking out loud, but I'm positive that how you're saying the Place, it has a capital P in it."

Lance smirks. "It sure does! Now, I'm in the mood for yellow nails today."

Pidge picks out the yellow bottle and frowns when she sees the discoloration of the glass. "Are you sure this stuff is even safe to use?"

He shrugs. "Who knows? Do you want to paint nails or not?"

She huffs, but unscrews the lid. Unlike Lance's painting spree with Keith, they don't sit in silence for most of the time, instead choosing to ramble about different mishaps with their siblings and paint. Pidge is laughing so hard, Lance thinks he'll end up with paint smudging his skin, but the brush never strays from his nail. By the time Lance finishes his story about how his sister Estefani had managed to lock his other sister Sofia into a box for stealing her nail stickers, Pidge is finished painting with yellow, screwing the bottle up and placing it back into the neat little rainbow.

"Wow, Pidge, these look really nice." says Lance.

"Oh, I'm not finished." says Pidge. "I haven't even done designs yet."

He raises an eyebrow. "Designs?"

She pays no attention to him, instead looking for a particular color and exclaiming in delight when she brings out the white.

"My mom always used to put daisies on my nails." says Pidge, and Lance seem the way her eyes dim a bit. It suddenly hits him that Pidge and him are alike; they both have the same longing for a mother they're not sure they'll see again.

Pidge clears her throat, pushing her glasses up her nose. "What design would you like?"

He snaps up and thinks for a bit before it occurs to him. "Suns! Suns are nice."

"Suns it is."

She swirls tiny suns into his nails with white, and when she's finished, Lance is in awe. He makes a mental note to snap some pics of them later with Pidge's phone.

"How am I supposed to do anything else with these nails when they look so good?" he cries out dramatically.

Pidge rolls her eyes. "You don't have to make a big deal out of it."

There's a smile on her face nevertheless.

-o-O-o-

Lance has to stop Coran from pouring the nail polish in his mouth one day to see what it tastes like.

"No!" he shrieks, grabbing the vial from Coran's hand, just about to be tipped into his mouth. "Not for drinking!"

One of Coran's bushy orange eyebrows raises up. "Not for drinking? Why not?"

"They could make you very sick, Coran."

"Doesn't that seem a bit dangerous to have lying around the dining room then?"

Lance sighs. "It's not their intended purpose to hurt someone. And they weren't supposed to be lying around; Pidge must have forgotten to put them back after she did Hunk's nails."

Coran strokes his mustache, and not for the first time Lance wonders how he gets it curled just like that. "So what do you do with these, ah, little bottles?"

Lance smirks. "Nail polish. It's nail polish. And it's just paint you put on your nails. See, look what Pidge did last week."

By now, the yellow paint on his nails have chipped away at the edges (Lance secretly mourns the loss of protective topcoat in space), but Coran seems fascinated as examines the fingers on the hand Lance puts forward.

"They're cute." he comments. "Now, how exactly would you get around to, ah, nail polishing the nails?"

Lance is surprised for a second, but pushes it away. "Do you want to paint your nails? I could do them for you."

Coran beams and gives him a hearty clap on the back.

-o-O-o-

Allura wanders in halfway, tablet in hand and snowy hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She looks inquisitively at the two of them.

"What are you two doing?"

"Lance is nail polishing my nails!" Coran calls out cheerfully.

Allura frowns and walks over to them, bending down. "Let me see."

Lance holds up Coran's four fingers that he's painted pink. "I could do yours too, if you wanted." he offers hesitantly.

Allura looks at the fingers, then grins. "Yes, I would like to try this nail paint."

She sits down and watches Lance finish up Coran's second hand and dot the pink with white polkadots, which please Coran greatly.

He turns and flashes Allura a smile. "Which color do you want me to paint your nails?"

Allura ponders over the choices offered to her. "Hmm, blue."

Lance knows why, but he can't help but ask, "Why blue?"

"So I can match with the Blue Lion!" says Allura brightly.

It's been a couple of weeks since the lion switch happened, but Lance's stomach still swoops down when he thinks about Allura piloting Blue. He doesn't hold it against her of course; the spots needed to be filled and this was the only way, but he still can't help but feel a little sad that Allura gets to pilot Blue, his best girl.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Blue will appreciate the gesture." Lance forces a grin as be untwists the cap on the bottle of blue.

"I hope so."

Lance starts painting the first nail on Allura's hand. "So, hey, Allura, do you like piloting a lion?"

Allura smiles really big, a pretty sight that could probably rival sunsets. "Of course! All my life, I remember wanting to be a paladin."

"Plus, you get a really cute outfit." comments Lance, and Allura laughs.

"That too. I remember my father showing it to me for the first time when I was fifteen and I wanted it to have more sparkles."

Lance snorts at the image of Allura's pink armor, covered in sequins and miscellaneous shiny stuff. "That would be a sight to see."

"The Blue Lion likes sparkles, I've noticed."

Lance thinks that is intentional, to bait him into talking about Blue. Nevertheless, his lips curl into a smile. "Yeah, she does! The blue bayard sometimes does this thing where it shoots sparkles, and, like, Blue goes crazy everytime I show it to her."

Allura flaps her free hand in excitement. "I know! It's very cute, she also likes it when I shine a red light and she tries to catch it."

Lance laughs. "Yeah, she's adorable. You know Earth cats do that to?"

"Really?"

And so they lose themselves in talk of Earthern cats and giant metal cats. Lance finally finishes painting her nails. There are laugh lines creasing the corners of Allura's eyes and she actually looks like a teenager and Lance thinks that he likes this face better than the face she makes when he throws some dumb pickup line her way.

"I can see why you wasted money to get these paints." Allura says, stretching her hand so she can see her nails. "They look very nice, Lance."

Lance ignores the urge to make a comment about the wasting money part (it was money well spent, not wasted, and he won't hear it any other way) and gives her a smile instead. "You're welcome, Princess. There's a reason why they call me nail polish god."

Allura rolls her eyes, but stands up and makes her way to the door. Halfway, she turns to look at Lance, face posed in a thoughtful expression. "You know, Lance, the Blue Lion misses you."

His throat squeezes up and he feels really emotional all of a sudden. "That's - I miss her too."

She offers him a grin, and it's sort of sad, and before she can leave the door, Lance calls out to her.

"You know, if I find some, I could probably add some sequins or glitter to make them sparkly."

He has to bite his lips to keep from laughing out loud at how fast Allura's face lights up. "You can make them sparkly?"

-o-O-o-

Lance wakes up to the sound of scuffling.

He keeps his eyes shut because he can hear at least one other person in his room, and he's curious as to why they're here.

A voice that sounds suspiciously like Pidge's mutters inconspicuously. "Where did he put them...Aha!"

"Did you find them?" another voice asks.

Lance has to keep himself from turning his head, but he's pretty sure that was Allura's voice he just heard. And that meant she and Pidge were in his room, rummaging through his stuff while he was sleeping. What the quiznak.

"Yep." says the first voice, which Lance is positive is Pidge by now. "Lance is not very good at hiding things."

His cheeks burn and he has half a mind to get up right now and demand that they answer why they're searching through his stuff, but he's curious as to why they're here, so he remains quiet. For now.

"What did Lance call them?" asks Allura. "Name polling?"

Pidge snickers. "It's nail polish, princess. C'mon, let's do this thing before he wakes up."

There are a couple more scraping sounds of what he assumes are the two of them pulling up chairs by his bedside. He hears them settling in and somebody takes his hand.

(He hopes it's Allura.)

"How does one polish the nail again?" asks Allura, and Lance can almost picture the confused lilt of her head as she turns to Pidge.

"You take the wand - you see the cap? that's the wand - and then you dip it into the bottle and then you paint the nails." says Pidge. "Here I'll show you."

A smaller hand grips his and Lance assumes that she's doing a quick few brushes before she hands it over to Allura again.

"The three line rule is an easy way to get the hang of it - one line down the middle, and then two to the side. You wait for that to dry, before you add another coat. You think you got it?"

"I think so."

Allura takes his hand, and Lance allows himself to grin the tiniest bit before he conceals it up so his cover isn't blown. There's a silence, one that is broken by Pidge's advice - "Keep his arm away from you, that'll make it easier." - and Lance feels himself drifting to sleep.

"You know, this is oddly soothing." comments Allura. "I can see why Lance likes this activity so much."

Pidge hums in response. "Yeah, apparently Lance used to do his sibling's nails all of the time."

Lance is touched - Pidge has been listening to his homesick ramblings after all.

What Allura says next grabs his attention. "Do you really think that this will cheer Lance up?"

"Oh yeah." responds Pidge. "The weird emo funky mood he's in should dissipate once he sees these good looking nails."

Okay, Lance has not been in a weird emo funky mood as Pidge described. Yes, he has been feeling a bit down, which is to be expected when one is fighting an endless fight against an evil alien dictator thousands of light years away from the people and planet you loved, but he thought he had hidden it well. Apparently, he was not as good as an actor as he thought he was.

"There." says Allura, startling Lance out of his thoughts. "I finished polishing his nails with this paint. Is that it?"

"Hold on." says Pidge, rustling a little as she takes the wand from Allura. "I'll show you how to make a tiny sun on his nails. Those are Lance's favorite."

Lance thanks the heavens that Allura and Pidge don't look up from their task because it looks like he's grimacing from how hard he's trying not to smile.

-o-O-o-

It's Keith who comes up with the idea first.

It had been after a hard battle against Lotor. Victory was on their side, but the battle had been long and strenuous and had left them all drained of energy. They had all been laying in the communal area, still in their paladin armor with their helmets tossed aside. Nobody said anything, but there was a feeling of hopelessness in the air. Far too many sighs had been flung out in the air, and Lance was beginning to think that maybe he should just move to his room to mope in silence.

Then Keith had opened his mouth to say something. Lance had immediately tended up, waiting for an insult or provocation to be thrown his way (although, those now happened from far in between, but they were still rivals okay, and rivals didn't have much nice things to say to each other. At least, Lance is pretty sure they don't.)

"What if-" Keith starts of, voice kind of shaky, but then sighs and drops his shoulders. "Never mind."

This piques Lance's attention, and he lifts his head from where it's laying on the couch to get a better look at him. "What if what, Keith?"

"Yeah, what if what?" Hunk pipes up, and Lance silently thanks the universe for having a friend like Hunk who'll back him up when nobody else does.

"What if - we got matching nails?" Keith looks unsure but almost kind of hopeful.

"Keith, you had me at matching nails." says Hunk, "Because, you know, friendship and camaraderie and all that stuff. But why do you want them? No offense."

"Well, team colors right?" says Keith. His voice is getting steadier - not as steady as it could be, but steadier. "It could show people that we're united, and the whole theme of Voltron is unity and working together, right?"

Lance, personally, thinks this is an excellent idea and tells Keith so. And as he's sprinting to his room to get the treasured box of polishes, a thought crosses his mind that maybe rivals aren't supposed to feel this happy at making each other smile.

 _Huh_ , Lance thinks.

-o-O-o-

Lance is in the middle of painting Allura's third finger black - they were choosing to paint one hand in the color and order of their lions, which Pidge had commented on that it looked like a stop light, which was ridiculous because stoplights don't have black and blue, Pidge - when Hunk starts humming a tune that Lance recognizes.

He grins sharply and starts to hum along too, letting his shoulders shake to the tune slightly.

"What are you humming?" Allura inquires, and Lance can literally feel his smile widening maybe a bit too much.

"Oh this tune?" Lance waves his hand in a nonchalant manner. "This is a song revered by many on Earth."

Lance doesn't turn his head, but he can tell that Hunk is trying really hard to stifle his giggles because he just heard a big cough.

Allura's eyebrows scrunch up together, and if Lance wasn't preparing to drop his finest shit post, he would have _awwwed_ internally on how cute it looked. "Revered?"

"Oh yes!" says Lance, nodding his head. "Would you like to hear the lyrics?"

"Why not?" says Allura, and Lance takes a split second to look at Hunk before they're belting out the lyrics to Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' in perfect synchrony.

Pidge looks up from the invention she's been tinkering with and groans loudly. "You guys are killing me. You're killing your best friend here."

Even Keith seems to recoil a bit from the unexpected song. "Did you guys just Rickroll Allura . . . verbally?"

"Keith knows what a Rickroll is!" crows Lance. "And yes I did! Add verbally rickrolling an alien to my list of accomplishments, please!"

"I don't understand." says Allura. "Lance says this song is revered, yet you two seem to have a dislike for it?"

"It's a shitpost thing, princess." says Pidge, like that clears everything up for an alien who's never been to Earth.

Allura shakes her head a little. "Earthlings are quite strange." she mutters to Coran, who's been perched on the couch next to her, knitting what appears to be mouse socks.

"I've learned not to question their ways." says Coran cheerfully.

Lance and Hunk finish the song, with Pidge even joining in towards the end. Hunk collapses to the floor in laughter and Lance has to take a moment away from Allura's nails so he can wipe the tears that have formed. Even Keith seems to smile a bit, but when Lance looks at him, his face goes back to its neutral state. Allura just looks happy that they're all happy and Pidge is still grinning and chuckling to herself.

It hits Lance that he loves his friends so freaking much. If he had to be stuck in space with six other people, Lance thinks, he's glad it was with these specific six.

He voices this exact sentiment with his friends.

Allura tilts her head to the side, looking a little fond. "That was oddly sweet of you, Lance."

"Hey! I can be a nice guy when I want!" says Lance.

Allura reaches over to give Lance's hand a little squeeze with the hand that she had chosen to paint blue. "I'm glad that you guys were the people I'm stuck in space with too."

"Same." says Hunk, and Pidge nods in agreement.

"You guys are the first family I've ever had." says Keith, and everyone kind of stops what they're doing to turn to look at him, even Lance, who's kind of freaking out over the fact that Allura is holding his hand.

"What?" Keith says defensively.

"Keeiith," Lance grins so big, it could touch his ears. "Who knew you were such a softie?"

"Guys, I think this calls for a group hug." says Hunk as he wraps his arms around Keith. Keith looks like he's going to protest, but he just sighs and goes to hug Hunk too. Lance joins in too, going in from behind Hunk and Pidge has to hug Keith's waist cause she's so tiny. Even Allura joins in, and Coran too, all while wiping away a tear, bless his soul. For a moment everything feels fine. Not perfect, but maybe, just maybe they could just make it.

Then, of course, Kolivan comes in and ruins everything.

Okay, so Lance might be exaggerating. Kolivan doesn't ruin anything, but he does disrupt the small glow of friendship that they had all been basking in with his deep frowns and stern eyes.

Now, if anybody had asked Lance what he had thought of the Blade of the Marmora staying at the castle ship ever since Shiro had disappeared, he would have said he was fine and dandy with it; that they were hecka badass and cool and it was a pleasure. But in reality? Lance is very intimidated by them. If he was being honest, the only person that he thought that actually got along well with Kolivan and his band of merry man was Shiro.

"What are you all doing in here?" barks Kolivan. Well, he doesn't bark it out, but his gruff voice makes Lance feel like he should immediately snap up to perfect posture with his hand in a salute and chanting, "Sir, yes sir!"

Instead of doing that, Lance just detangles himself from the group hug and holds out his hand, hoping that Kolivan can see the his perfect red nails with the little flower designs that Pidge had added. "We're painting our nails!"

Kolivan's frown deepens, if that's possible. "Painting your nails?"

"We put paint on our nails." says Hunk. "Look, we're even matching?"

He lifts his hand, the one with the Voltron colors, and Lance shows his too.

"Does this contribute to your training?" asks Kolivan.

"Um," says Lance, waving his fingers a bit. "It makes you feel really cool. You should try it."

"We are not wasting our time to paint our nails so we can match." deadpans Kolivan.

"Well, sure." says Lance. "But don't come crawling back to me 'cause you refused to harness the power of friendship."

"Harnessing the power of friendship." repeats Kolivan with the most disinterested look on his face.

Pidge smiles a little. "Oh yeah, the power of friendship and love. If it worked for the Guardians of the Galaxy, it can work for us too."

"C'mon, Kolivan!" Lance waggles his eyebrows. "I can even do it in the Blade of Marmora colors, so you can all keep up the aesthetic!"

Kolivan sighs and shakes his head. "That won't be necessary."

After Kolivan leaves the room, they all look at each other and burst out laughing. Lance thinks this is the lightest he's felt in weeks.

-o-O-o-

They find Shiro.

It's on a warm night when they receive the distress call from a planet called X'halan. It's not too big of a threat, just some Galra occupying their luxite mines and refusing to leave. They don't even need their lions for this battle, so they head out into the X'halani mountains where the mines are, with only the night and surrounding nature to camouflage them.

It's still a hard fought battle, but they receive help from a nearby rebel group. Eventually, they get the Galra to surrender. Lance is absolutely drained by the time the firefight is finished, but Allura insists that they go give their thanks to the group that assisted them.

They're making their way across the field, and Lance is sure that it's the exhaustion messing with his brain, because he could have sworn that there was something familiar about the leader of the rebels coming at them, the way he kept on twisting a hand over his right arm or how his armor glows blue around the collar.

It's not until Keith screams "SHIRO!" and takes of running that Lance realizes that duh, he had looked like Shiro.

 _Holy shit it's Shiro_. Black paladin armor and all.

Pidge gasps next to him, face lighting up like the firecrackers he and his cousins used to set off on the fourth of July. Allura has a little intake of breath as well and Hunk is already in tears, running after Keith.

"Guys? What's happening down there?" asks Coran in the comms.

"Shiro." says Lance softly. "We found him."

Pidge tugs at his sleeve and they take off running, Allura hot on their heels. Coran's still on the comms, questions full of confusion, but Lance ignores him in favor of shrieking,"SHIRO!" at the top of his lungs.

Hunk is hugging Shiro so tight and Keith is clutching his right shoulder like if he lets go, Shiro will disappear all over again and Lance thinks his heart is gonna burst as he tackles Shiro in a hug, ignoring his surprised "Oomph." Pidge is definitely crying and Allura doesn't seem like she can hold out much longer, judging by her sniffles and Lance would be lying right now if he said he wasn't tearing up just a little bit. They're messy and chaos, but for a moment, they're together and it's perfect.

-o-O-o-

They don't separate for a long time.

Shiro had broken down, which was concerning, to say the least. Seeing someone so dignified and refined crumble so easy was very distressing. They broke away immediately but Shiro had assured them with a watery laugh that it was fine. He had missed them too.

Lance likes to think that their second group hug would have been the most heartwarming thing anyone has ever seen, that even Lotor would melt from the feels, had it not been for Coran's incessant stream of questions over the comms. There's a lot of eye twitching, but they all collectively ignore it.

It's Shiro who breaks up the group hug, telling them that they should probably head back before Coran has an aneurysm.

The group agrees and they start the trek back to the castle, hanging close to Shiro. Lance can feel the little pieces of the puzzle that is Team Voltron snapping back into place.

Pidge is in the middle of reenacting Slav's modifications with the castle on the way back when Shiro squints at Lance's hand.

"Are you guys wearing . . . nail polish?" asks Shiro, his surprise evident in his tone.

Lance smiles, an actual genuine smile, and oh god, he's forgotten how much he had missed Shiro and the way their team - their family - had felt so complete with him.

"Yeah," says Lance, and his voice breaks a little out of the sheer emotions he's feeling. "Wanna match?"

Shiro smiles, and the tiredness in his face recedes a little. "I'd love to."

They all walk back to the Castle of Lions, taking their sweet time and relishing in the fact that they're back together and their family is complete again. Little smiles are shared between the six of them, and laughs spring up without any prompt, filling the night air.

Lance thinks that they're gonna be alright.

* * *

 _okay, i'll admit that there are some parts in here that are really sloppy, but i swear if i had the time, they could have been done better! maybe one day i'll come back and rewrite those parts :/_

 _i had so much fun writing all those fluffy parts :3 here's to hoping that s3 will hit me up with that good platonic content!_

 _also, i feel like now that you've read the whole fic, it would be a good time to tell you that i literally don't have the slightest clue on nail polish other than the three line rule, so apologies if i got something wrong in here :D_

 _speaking of s3, does anyone know where i can watch it? i don't have netflix, so i would honestly die for you if if you could drop a site in a review or a pm and tell me where i can watch all the episodes for free. no spoilers though, please!_

 _reviews honestly make my whole day, even if it's a smiley face! constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as well!_

 _come talk to me about space fam and s3 (after i watch it!) on tumblr at my main -kwanteeco or my writing side blog (where this will be posted!) -thebluepaladln!_


End file.
